Bhubaneswar: In a major leap forward to provide, the state Cabinet Saturday approved six mega drinking water projects with an estimated cost of Rs 1,485.15 crore.
The Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik approved 16 proposals, including tender for the six drinking water projects, which will be executed by the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water department.
These projects will be executed in different villages of Jajpur, Kendrapara, Khurda, Dhenkanal, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda and Kalahandi districts within 24 months, said Women and Child Development Minister Tukuni Sahu said.
The state government has prioritised on providing safe drinking water to people living in the rural areas with funds from the Jal Jeevan Mission (JMM) funding, she said.
The Minister said two such projects have been approved in Kendrapara district and on their completion, 2,74,836 people from four blocks of the district will be benefitted. The total cost of this project is Rs 227.91 crore.
Another water supply project worth Rs 348.10 crore has been approved for the Khurda district. Nearly five lakh people of 505 villages in six blocks of the district will be benefited from the project.
Similarly, drinking water project of Rs 296.93 crore has been approved for Dhenkanal district to provide safe drinking water to 1,52,021 persons in 166 villages.
The state government has decided to execute another such water supply project to cover 1,43,000 people in 26 GPs of Sambalpur district and two GPs of Jharsuguda district at a cost of Rs 188.38 crore.
The Cabinet has also approved tender of Rs 177.83 crore for implementation of the drinking water project for Kalahandi district while Rs 245.98 crore has been approved for undertaking similar project in Jajpur district.
Execution of these two projects, will help 1,30,555 people of 28 GPs of Kalahandi and 3,23,710 people in 53 GPs of Jajpur district to get safe drinking water.
PNN
